Essays mainly about wineries, and winemaking and other topics of related interest...

Sunday, August 17, 2014

A Few Thoughts on why the Republican Party is so Attractive to Ex-hippies like Arlo Guthrie and myself,--

(Disclaimer: this is an unfunny post so if you are here strictly for entertainment you can skip it)

Republicans have always valued strategy over tactics and this seems to
be a strategy that is working mostly because of a convergence of
circumstances that includes the present constituency of the Supreme
Court. The recent Supreme Court decisions seem calculated at this point in
time, to support this subtle shift in power. Republicans also have a good track record when it comes to (decades later) adopting the policies and methods of those they once opposed. The native distrust of
unchecked power which was a driving
force of the 1960s protest movements like the Yippees (minus the wild
hairstyles and the counter culture image) have thus been adopted by
Republicans as a workable model in the present day and thus have given rise to populist
movements like the Tea Party that are difficult to control. The Hippy
movement of the 60s was based on an unquestioning underlying assumption
of shared values as being the source of collective strength. Rulings
like Citizen's United and Hobby Lobby are calculated to divert power and
shift it to entities that can counterbalance an overbearing federal
government based on what Republicans perceive as shared values. So let
us not be naive about this because, certainly though they may have
become heir to and adopted the socially attractive naivete and 'fight
the power' ethos of the hippies, Republicans are far from naive.

Therfore I think those that accuse the Republican Party of being
simple-minded obstructionists are missing the point and underestimating
the quality of their thinking. The situation needs to be analyzed in the
context of a larger national agenda. Because of the electoral system
instituted by the founding fathers, so called 'blue states' have long
wielded an outsize influence in elections at the national level. The
policy of Republicans is therefore to take advantage of present
circumstances at a time when the nation is not subject to any perceived
existential thereat to intentionally shift power and responsibility back
to the states. They thus have settled now on a strategy of paralyzing
the national government and thereby counteracting and contracting the
outsize influence that, thanks to the electoral college system, is
presently wielded by the 'blue' states.

This approach is in accord
with their underlying political philosophy and it has long been the
Republican ideal, (despite it being the party of Lincoln) of supporting
states rights and relying more heavily on the power of the states rather
than that of the federal government to resolve problems, while
conversely the Democratic ideal has long been to rely on a strong
national government to address overarching and endemic issues. Continued
distrust in Washington therefore only works to the Republican advantage
and they look with sanguine glee on congress' plummeting approval
ratings and the lack of collegiality in Washington because it is part of
an overall strategy that while personally embarrassing to those members
of congress (and the president), seems to be working.

About Me

Ken's articles on the revolutionary era in Hudson Valley have appeared in the OCHS Journal, Minerals Magazine and PTG Journal. His work in fiction and non-fiction focuses on the history of scientific agencies in the U.S. He continues to lecture on topics of historical interest throughout New York State.
After returning home from sea he moved to the Hudson Valley to build on on a piece of land owned by his grandfather. After planting a vineyard in he decided to try offering a few hand crafted wines to the general public. It took another seven years to get government approval but finally, in 2006 he proceeded with the tasting room project. The result was Silver Stream Winery.
His musical career has spanned forty years. After a ten year professional career in including appearances with Huey Lewis, Steve Odum, Fabian, The Platters, Robert Merrill and appearances at Lincoln Center and the Kool Jazz Festival, he currently plays bass with the New Sussex Symphony Orchestra and others.
He is working on the third in the monoville series "moon over mono." "Makers of the Telegraph" will be his first non-self-published full length non-fiction work.